


The Small Things

by CeaselessCow2011



Series: The Magnus Archives: Barely Canon [10]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Beholding Avatar Martin Blackwood, F/M, Fluff, M/M, knowing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-25
Updated: 2021-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-28 22:33:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30146592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeaselessCow2011/pseuds/CeaselessCow2011
Summary: Jon and Tim go out for lunch, and Martin and Sasha do the same. Martin learns something, and, in turn, so does Tim.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Sasha James/Tim Stoker
Series: The Magnus Archives: Barely Canon [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986040
Kudos: 9





	The Small Things

Jon had been acting off all day. Tim assumed it was because of his new position as Head of the Institute, or maybe something else had happened in his life. But either way, he seemed stressed. He went to Jon’s office and came in without knocking. He knew it pissed Jon off when he did that, but he was worried and wasn’t going to let Jon isolate himself. “‘Ey, Boss. How’s it goin’?”

Jon didn’t hear him. He had headphones in and was drawing furiously. He definitely looked like he was stressed, but looked to be having a good time with his doodles. Tim noticed how peaceful he looked, and matched his energy. “Hey, Jon?” He gently put his hand on his shoulder. Jon jumped in surprise and pulled his headphones out. 

“Tim!” He exclaimed. He grew increasingly anxious. How was Tim going to react to this? He failed to notice his own eyes staring wide-eyed at Tim. 

Tim smiled. “Hey, just checkin’ in. It’s about lunch time. Wanna go out with me? I think we could both use a break, especially you. It’s no surprise that you’ve been seeming a lot more stressed out than usual.”

Jon thought on this a moment. He wasn’t feeling big. Would Tim be able to help him? He’s never just hung out with Tim alone like this. “Um…” He started. “Wha’ ‘bout Sasha?” He asked. “‘N Martin?” He tried his best to seem bigger than he actually was. He mostly failed, but he tried.

Tim shrugged. “They’ll be fine for a half hour. C’mon, trust me on this one, ‘kay?” 

Jon sighed and stood up. “Okay.” he said, cleaning up. He went to Tim and the two walked out. Tim texted Martin.

`ur boyf & i r goin out 4 lunch :) hopefully i can convince him to relax lol`

`okay! and i hope so- hes been super stressed lately. do him some good to hang out with someone not me for once im sure- just be careful :)`

`kk, u have fun suffering @ work :D`

Jon and Tim walked out of the building. “Where do you wanna go? We can go anywhere.” Tim said, smiling.

Jon bounced, forgetting his nervousness for a moment. “Ice cream!” He then remembered that this wasn’t someone who knew about his little space. He cleared his throat. “I-If you want.” He spoke slowly.

Tim just smiled wider. “Course! Let’s.” He started walking. 

“Tim-” Jon stood in place. He knew he couldn’t walk the streets with Tim like normal, and was scared.

Tim looked back. “Yeah?”

“Um… C-Could I hold your hand there?”

“Mhm! Course!” He held Jon’s hand like it was nothing and the two walked to the ice cream shop. 

Once they got into the small shop, Tim looked to Jon, who was obviously slightly intimidated by all the options. Tim looked to the flavours. There was an abundance of them. He looked at all the flavours and saw a whole assortment. There were flavours like ‘Strawberry Serpent’, ‘Blueberry Banana’, ‘Purple Plums’, ‘Cinnamon Swirl’, ‘French Vanilla Bean’, ‘Fudge Chunks’, and so many more. He definitely wanted the Strawberry Serpent. He looked back at Jon, who was sweating hard. He looked like he was overwhelmed. 

“What colour is your favourite? Just pick which colour you like best, that’s what I usually do. Works wonders.” Tim said, grinning.

Jon let himself trust Tim on this one and picked the dark purple icecream. “That one.” He said as he pointed.

“Great choice! Now, would you like a bowl or cone?” 

“...Bowl.” 

“I gotta say, Jon, you got great taste.” He gave Jon one last grin before ordering the two ice creams; A Strawberry Serpent in a cone for Tim, and a Purple Plums in a bowl for Jon. 

\----------

Martin sighed at his desk and stood up, stretching. He went over to Sasha. “Hey, Sasha, would you like to come with me to the cafe? I um… Jon and Tim are out for lunch, and- and I just thought-”

“Hell yeah! Anything to avoid work.” Sasha chuckled as she stood up and grabbed her bag. 

A relieved smile washed over Martin’s anxious face. “Oh! Good.” 

Martin and Sasha happily went out of the building. Martin kept fidgeting and being quiet while making small talk with Sasha. 

“You know they’re okay, right?” Sasha said, seemingly at random. She turned to face Martin as they walked.

Martin perked up and looked at her, surprised and a bit confused. “What do you mean?”

“Jon and Tim. They’re hanging out, right?”

“Y-Yes, but-”

“And you’re nervous and scared that they’re going to get into trouble.” Sasha cut him off and gave him a knowing look.

Martin went silent for a moment before deeply sighing. “I- Fine, yes, I am…”

Sasha smiled, her expression soft. “Exactly. They’re going to be okay, it’s going to turn out fine, I’m sure.”

“I-I know that, it’s just…” Martin thought about how Jon’s been acting the past week. All the things he and Jon had planned throughout the week. He had had to convince Jon to come to work. Jon, of all people. He knew better than anyone how Jon was, but he didn’t want to tell Sasha. Not now. “It’s just… Jon’s uh… Well, Jon’s really stressed, y’know? I just want him to have a good time.”

“Well, he’s in good hands with Tim, isn’t he? I mean, Tim can push some buttons sometimes and nearly cross some lines, sure, but when it comes down to it, he’s really nice. Besides, he and Jon have been acquaintances for quite some time now. I’m sure Tim’s got it under control.”

“Hope so…” Martin mumbled to himself.

The two walked into the cafe and ordered drinks. Martin ordered a nice Earl Grey tea while Sasha ordered an espresso. They sat at a table with their drinks.

“So, how have you and Tim been?” Martin asked, sipping at his tea. He partly asked as a distraction so that Sasha wouldn’t have time to ask about him and Jon as they sat down.

“Oh, we’ve been really good! He’s uh… I don’t know how to say this, but he’s a lot more, serious, I guess? Than when we were just friends. He’s told me some things about him that are pretty dark, but yeah, we’ve been good. He’s a real good cuddler.” Sasha smiled.

“Oh, good! Jon’s a nice cuddler too, I love cuddling him.”

“Jon looks like he's the perfect size to just cuddle onto.”

Martin nodded. “He is! Oh, Sasha, you have no idea how easy it is to just move him onto your lap and braid his hair and cuddle him.”

“He sounds really nice. I assume he kind of lets down his guard around you?”

“Mhm, definitely! It’s really nice seeing his more relaxed and unmasked self.”

“Same with Tim. He’s a lot more soft and serious than he lets on.”

“Our boyfriends, huh?” Martin chuckled softly.

Sasha laughed with him. “No wonder why those two work so well together.”

“I hope those two can become better friends, honestly. I feel like they’d be able to bond really well together.”

Sasha nodded. “Maybe they can learn to unmask better and show their true selves around others.”

Martin giggled. “Right. Let’s hope. I hope Jon can show his true self more. He’s quite cute.”

“Yeah, so’s Tim.”

The two sat and drank the rest of their drinks before heading back to the Institute. 

\----------

On the way, they saw Jon and Tim. Once Jon saw Martin, he ran to him and hugged him. “P-M-Martin!” He stammered out, remembering he probably shouldn’t call him ‘Papa’ around Tim and Sasha.

Martin noticed this. He hugged back and smiled. “Jon! I missed you, love.” He kissed his forehead. 

Tim chuckled. “Brought back your boy. He and I had a chill time. Went out for ice cream.” He went up to Sasha and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Martin chuckled at that. “Thanks, Tim.” He put his hand through Jon’s hair. Jon was clinging onto Martin. 

“Martin and I had a good time, too.” Sasha said, smiling up at Tim.

“Oh, yeah? Sweet! Sounds like we all had a good time.” Tim said, rubbing Sasha’s back.

The four of them went into the building and went to their respective offices. Tim went to Martin’s office and knocked. Martin let him in.

“Hi, Tim, did you need anything?” Martin asked, smiling softly.

“Hey, um…” Tim closed the door and sat across from Martin. “Jon’s been real off lately. Do you happen to know why? I wanna help him.”

Martin took a deep breath. “I, well… Yes, I know why. I think it would just help to kind of… Make sure he isn’t doing anything dangerous? Like, as in, no sharp objects, no fire, y’know, the works.”

Tim raised a brow. “Right. Well, thing is, Marto, that can’t just be it, can it? Gotta be some more I can do.”

Tim suddenly felt pain in his head, along with hearing static. The static fell as soon as it began, and Martin looked increasingly nervous but made no note of it. “Are you okay, Tim?”

“Yeah, I just- that was weird. I felt a weird pain in my head, is all. Completely better now.”

“Hmm…” Martin didn’t know what happened, but now he Knew that Tim knew about Jon’s regression, or at least, knew Jon wasn’t being as big as he led on. Martin also Knew now that Tim also regresses. He didn’t know how he knew this information. He’d have to look into it. “I’ll make you some tea in a bit, but um… Anyway, I think it’d help to kind of… Be around Jon. Make sure he’s safe and happy and all. Don’t let him do too much work, okay?”

Tim nodded. “Yeah, course. By the way, does he, uh…” He thought a moment, trying to get the words out. “Do you know, by chance, if he age regresses? Like. Like, um…”

“Yes.” Martin said, the feeling of anxiety building up in his chest. “But please don’t tell anyone. He keeps it secret for a reason.”

Tim nodded. “Yeah, I get it. I’ll be sure to help make him be safe and stuff, no worries.”

Martin looked relieved. “Thank you.”

“Course.” Tim grinned. “Cya later.” He left the room and went to Jon’s office. “Hey bud.”

Jon looked up at him. “Hi! Um, thanks for um… Thanks for the ice cream. Was nice.”

“My pleasure! Hey, if you wanna hang out with me, just come on into my office, kay? I’m always free to hang out with you.”

“Thank you, Tim.” Jon smiled. He had been doodling again.

“Anytime.” Tim said, smiling. He left Jon to doodle.

\----------

Martin came into Jon’s office when it was time to leave. By then, Jon had felt bigger. Jon looked up at Martin. “Hello, sweetheart.” He smiled softly.

“Hi! Just coming in to see if you’re done for the day.”

“Ah, is it time to go home?”

Martin nodded. “Mhm.”

“Right.” Jon got himself packed up and ready to go home.

As the two walked home, Martin brought up lunch. “I think it was very brave of you to hang out with Tim earlier, when you were small.”

Jon smiled. “Thank you. It was nerve wracking at first, but Tim is actually really nice.”

Martin nodded. “Yeah. By the way, weird things have been happening lately.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“Knowlege keeps, well… Seeping into my head? I don’t know how it works, but I was talking to Tim earlier, and well, suddenly I Knew things about him he’d never told me before.”

“What’d you Know?”

“Please don’t bring this up with him, but I Knew that Tim regresses too, just like you.”

“Oh!” Jon smiled brightly. “That’s nice to know.”

Martin smiled. “Yeah, but it was weird. Right before I Knew that stuff, Tim got a split second headache and it went away really fast.”

“Hmm. Odd. We can figure that out tomorrow.” Jon said, unlocking the door of the house and walking in. “For now, let’s just rest.”

“Right.” Martin followed him in, and after the two took off their shoes, they went to the couch, where they cuddled in calm, comforting silence.


End file.
